What are Email Authentication Protocols? A Complete Guide

Admin • December 30, 2024 • 9 Minutes Reading

Email Authentication Protocols
In today’s digital era, where emails are a widespread mode of communication between users, it has been exposed to many security risks too. That is why many email authentication protocols have been created. These protocols are made to verify the authenticity of the email addresses and ensure the data integrity of the emails. 

So what are these threats and how do the authentication protocols help the users to safeguard their emails and data? Here we will get the answers to all these questions. So without any further delay, let’s start by understanding what email authentication is.

Email Authentication Protocols & It’s Importance

Before jumping directly to the protocols, we need to understand email authentication. Email Authentication is the collection of processes that a user carries out to check an email address’s authenticity. It helps the users to verify the email addresses and the sender’s legitimacy. Additionally, it allows the users to safeguard their data from any kind of malicious activities or cyber-attacks. 

Now, to ensure the maximum safety of the user’s data, there are a few authentication protocols. We will briefly take a look at these protocols, that are, DMARC DKIM and SPF. We will understand these protocols in detail later. For now, let’s take a look briefly at the protocols. 

The protocols are: 

  • Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
  • DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)
  • Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC)

These are the email authentication protocols that will help users to check if a real user has sent the email, or if the content of the email is secure or not. Till here we can get an idea about why email validation is necessary. But some other factors make it important to authenticate emails. Let’s take a look at the reasons why email authentication is mandatory. 

Why Do We Need Email Authentication?

The major necessity of email authentication is to safeguard the users’ data from theft and attacks. Along with that, there are a few other factors that make it necessary for users to implement email authentication. The reasons are:

  • Prevention of Email Spoofing

One of the most common attacks to trick users is email spoofing. In spoofing, the attacker uses the sender’s email that seems legitimate at the receiving end. With proper email authentication, users can safeguard themselves from these kinds of attacks. 

  • Minimizes Phishing Attack Risks

With the right email authentication protocols, users can also save themselves from the risks of phishing attacks. These attacks include deceitful emails to steal the sensitive information of the users. 

  • Safeguards Brand Reputation

The attackers can pretend to be an organization and can participate in many illicit activities. This can have a huge impact on the organization’s name and reputation. To safeguard the brand’s name it is important to authenticate emails. 

  • Better Email Deliverability

Email authentication helps users to differentiate between authentic and fraudulent emails. Without proper authentication, users can end up losing important emails in the spam folder.

All these are the factors that make it necessary to implement proper email authentication. Additionally, these protocols play a major role in safeguarding the user’s data using different techniques. Let’s now move on to understanding what these protocols are and how they work. 

How Verifyd Helps With Email Authentication?

As we all know the risks that come with emails, it is necessary to take proper precautionary measures. When it comes to safeguarding your data from malicious activities and fraudulent emails, the Verifyd.app is the best solution. With this solution, you can not only detect invalid emails but also get rid of all suspicious emails that are risky for your email lists and other sensitive data. 

Email Authentication Protocols: SPF, DKIM & DMARC

The three major protocols that help with email authentication are DMARC DKIM and SPF, respectively. We have discussed briefly about them earlier. Now we will take a thorough look at them to understand how they work and secure the emails from attacks or fraudulent emails. The first protocol we will be discussing is the SPF. 

Protocol 1: Sender Policy Framework

The SPF or Sender Policy Framework works to ensure that an email is coming from a specified domain. The SPF provides a DNS (Domain Name System) List to the email server to only allow the emails from the provided domains. With that list, the SPF makes sure the email is received from an authentic IP address. 

The server at the receiving end ensures the safety of the emails by checking the bounce rates and path of the email addresses. Without the SPF, the servers of the mailbox may end up marking the emails as spam. Let’s now take a look at how the SPF works. 

Working of Sender Policy Framework

As per the SPF protocol, one must follow certain steps to ensure the authenticity of the email addresses. We will learn these steps one by one to understand the working in a better way. 

  • The first thing that happens in SPF protocol is the generation of the domain list. The domain owner creates a list with the specified domain names with secure and authentic IPs. These lists contain domain names and the subnets that are allowed to send emails. 
  • Next, an email is sent to the receiver. At the receiving end, the mailbox servers start processing the emails. They check the email address and the message and then return the result to continue with email authentication. 
  • After this, email is checked if it is sent from an authentic and safe IP address. If the email passes the authentication process, the email is sent to the recipient’s inbox. But if the email doesn’t pass the authentication, it is rejected or sent straight to the spam folder.

This is how SPF helps users protect their mailboxes from invalid or fraudulent emails. Let’s now take a look at how the next protocol works.

Protocol 2: DomainKeys Identified Mail

The next protocol we are going to discuss is the DKIM or DomainKeys Identified Mail. This protocol prevents email forgery. The DKIM protocol is one of the email authentication protocols that uses an encryption key, also known as a digital signature, to ensure that an email is sent from an authentic domain. 

The DKIM acts as a digital fingerprint that is unique for each email sender. Now, let’s take a look at the workings of the DKIM. 

How Does DKIM Work?

  • Initially, the sender’s domain creates a pair of encryption keys: one private key, and one public key. The DKIM creates a private key for the server and the public key is created for the DNS (Domain Name System). 
  • When the email is sent to the receiver’s end, the server uses the private key to create a digital signature for the specified components of the email and message. 
  • At the recipient’s end, the receiving server retrieves the public key from the DNS record from the sender’s end. With the help of this key, the server verifies the digital signature. 
  • If the signature of the email matches, it passes the email authentication and is sent to the receiver’s inbox. In case the signature doesn’t match, the email is sent directly to the spam folder. 

With the help of the digital signature, the DKIM checks whether the email is authentic or not. These signatures help the users verify and ensure that the emails are authentic and secure and come from a safe IP address. After understanding these two email authentication protocols, let’s now move to the third protocol, which is, DMARC.

Protocol 3: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance 

DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance. It uses both SPF and DKIM to offer a more secure approach to safeguarding email communications. The DMARC offers mechanisms to help email receivers deal with email messages that fail the authentication test. There are a few things to keep in mind while working with the DMARC protocol. 

  • The first thing to keep in mind is that the email must pass one of the protocols from SPF and DKIM. 
  • Next, there are three policies that DMARC specifies, they are:
    • None: This specifies that no action is taken for the messages that failed the email authentication process. This policy is in the monitoring phase only.
    • Quarantine: In this policy, the messages that fail the authentication are suspicious and sent to the spam folder.
    • Reject: In this policy, the DMARC directly rejects the messages that fail the email authentication.

Let’s now take a look at the workings of the DMARC to understand how it helps in email authentication. 

How Does the DMARC Protocol Works?

There are a few steps in the DMARC email authentication protocols. The steps are as follows:

  • Firstly, the domain owner generates a record for the mailbox servers. This record generally includes the instructions for the receiver’s mailbox servers to handle the emails. 
  • When the recipient’s servers receive an email, it first checks for a DMARC record in the sender’s domain.
  • If a record is found, then the server verifies whether the email has passed the SPF or DKIM email authentication or not.
  • If the email passes the SPF and DKIM authentication, then it is delivered to the recipient’s inbox.
  • But if it does not pass the authentication, then the server takes action according to the three policies it has set, which are, None, Quarantine, and Reject

Conclusion

To safeguard email communications, it is highly necessary to implement the necessary email authentication protocols in the mailbox servers. These protocols help users protect their data from fraudulent emails and cyberattacks. Here we have mentioned some of these protocols that will help users to ensure a secure connection with their senders.